Date:             Tuesday April 12, 2016
Time:             6:30-8:30 p.m.
Location:       New Westminster Public Library, 716 Sixth Avenue, New Westminster, BC
Topic:            Writing as a Sacred Calling
Presenter:      Jónína Kirton
Cost:              Free (with prior registration)
To Register:   Call 604-527-4667 or email askus@nwpl.ca

Writers and mystics have much in common. So many of us feel the call to write, yet spend a good deal of time doubting this urge. Even as we settle into the descriptor of “writer”, we struggle with the pull towards certain topics or genres and find we are once again back at Why Me? and Why Now? Many of us need spiritual practices, rituals and/or sacred space to get comfortable with what is being asked of us. Without it, we are left with self-will and our minds, which are not always our best friends when it comes to creative endeavours such as writing. While there’s no question that writing requires passionate effort and discipline, we also need grace to take on the larger, more challenging writing tasks such as a book. Working from the position that writing is a sacred act, one that is well supported by ritual, ceremony and community such as sacred circles, I have found that it is possible to bring an element of grace into our writing efforts. Together we will enter sacred space where we will first explore those fears and those desires that usually accompany daunting writing projects. We will work from the premise that grace eases us into  discipline; without it, discipline is dry, hard to swallow, and often unsustainable.  Through experiential learning, we will examine a variety of strategies and techniques to strengthen our relationship to grace so that it can support the kind of writing “effort” that is far more effective and efficient.

Jónína Kirton is a Prairie-born Métis/Icelandic poet and facilitator who currently lives in the unceded territory of the Coast Salish people. She brings her experience as a graduate of the Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio, as a sacred circle facilitator, and as a student of Continuum to her writing and teaching. She remains curious about memory and the many ways one can access it. Her first collection of poetry, page as bone ~ ink as blood, described as dark and delicate, was released in April 2015 with Talonbooks.  Visit her at: www.joninakirton.wix.com/poet.